Who's More Unhealthy?
by Bloodlustful
Summary: Post-Kung Fu Panda 2. There is a wonderful future ahead of the Jade Palace residents, but Po realizes one night that something isn't right concerning Tigress. So he goes to have a talk with her. Question is, what's the problem and how can it be solved?


Well, I'm back with just a small amount of additional time to write a story, and this time, it'll be my first "Kung Fu Panda" one in quite a long time!

In this story, there are a lot of good things that have been happening following Lord Shen's defeat and death, not least of all the fact that Tai Lung, having been resurrected by supernatural phenomenon occurrences brought on by special, almost universally unknown spirits in the heavens who have decided to give him a chance to right his wrongs and fix the future forever in every way, has done just that, having seen sense after Po destroyed him in his first life, via a special shard of mystical crystal handed to him(it contains everything evil past, present and future, and if destroyed, evil will be destroyed forever, as well, and a fully utopian future that will form itself piece by piece lies ahead)that, once he learns the facts, he promptly destroys with one big, powerful clap from his other hand into the palm holding the evil shard.

This also teleports him into the Jade Palace, of all places, and the spirits make sure that everyone knows about everything that's just happened and thus what that means(of course it's also what they need to know), and though he is knocked out by the said teleportation sequence, he is later filled in on everything he needs to know once he awakens and accepts the offer given to him to be part of Shifu's students again.

But despite that and everything else that ensures the best future imaginable everywhere with everyone and everything thanks to him, there is still quite a problem…one that concerns that other felid, and the Dragon Warrior panda.

See, a few nights after Tai Lung's rejoining, Tigress is in her room, and lost in thought…until Po knocks and she allows him to come in, and that leads to a discussion about one's health…not just the obvious physical health that Tigress points out to Po concerning his weight, but also one's emotional, mental and, when it gets down to it, overall health that Po points out to Tigress concerning the fact that SHE HAS NEVER CRIED IN HER LIFE.

Naturally, Tigress makes it clear that this is a good thing(or so she believes), and is surprised that Po is suggesting that never crying isn't a good idea, but the things he says to her test her limits, especially given how harsh, painful, unhappy and unfair her life has been.

Whose health is worse…Po's or Tigress's?

With all I've just described, many would see that as a very tough question.

And as for the answer…what can be done about the worse state of health?

Check it out via reading.

THINGS TO NOTE:

This story was largely inspired by the "Treasure Planet" fanfic "Tears Unshed" by Swamp Fairy(nicely done, SF, and thank you for the inspiration so very much indeed).

This story also takes place three months and a few days after the events of Kung Fu Panda 2(that chunk of shit show that is "Legends Of Awesomeness" never happened and indeed is NOT part of the franchise as far as I'm concerned, so Tigress's backstory in this fanfic is different and what the hell it SHOULD have been, anyway, although there are many other reasons as to why I am making this take place shortly after Kung Fu Panda 2, but I digress).

I own none of the characters, since they all belong to their respective franchises, and I don't own the story that inspired this one, either, since the aforementioned Swamp Fairy wrote it.

Who's More Unhealthy?

It had been an interesting three months following the defeat, downfall and death of Lord Shen at Po's hands.

First, there was the way that not only did the Valley Of Peace, now saved once more, not have any further evildoer threats(with the exception of the usual bandits, plunderers, kidnappers and such, which the Furious Five and Po always saw to the defeats of), but there were a lot of other things during those three months that made things better for that region and every other part of the world concerning the present and future alike.

Perhaps the biggest one of them all(okay, no "perhaps" about it)was that the previously evil(albeit in a tragic way)snow leopard warrior Tai Lung, who'd been brought back to life thanks to special spirits in the heavens who nearly no one knew a damn thing about making supernatural phenomenon things happen to cause said resurrection, doing so in order to give him a chance for redemption and to ensure the most perfect future possible in every way for the rest of time and beyond.

His death at the panda's hands and the punishments he received in various hells after that having opened his eyes and causing him to learn things that he wished he'd learned before, Tai Lung promptly did what was required of him to do what the spirits were hoping he would do…a shard of mystical crystal, with everything evil past, present and future within it, was given to him, and all he had to do to make sure of it that evil would be erased forever in every way and an all-around utopian future that would put itself together bit by bit until finished and ensured to be everlasting, again, in every way, would present itself, was to get rid of every single last speck of it.

Holding it in the palm of his right hand, he wasted no time in bringing his left hand down onto it at full force, and his strength, along with the speed with which he did the deed, made it so that not even half a speck of that crystal was left at all.

Ironically, he didn't have time to feel great about it, as the way that he was teleported, for a further irony, to the Jade Palace immediately thereafter by the spirits tore his consciousness from him, though they were certain to give everyone the information that they needed about him and what happened(as well as what that meant, obviously)and so it was that, when Tai Lung woke up, saw that he was in the Jade Palace now, much to his surprise, he was greeted by its residents and they took turns filling him in on what he now needed to know.

Accepting the offer by Shifu to become one of his students once more and indeed a part of this group of heroes who would do what was needed of them whenever it was, regardless of how it would now be different than fighting bandits, given what Tai Lung had just done and what it meant, which, ironically, was a great(read: excellent and commendable beyond words)thing, it would seem that, now that it was the start of the fourth month following Lord Shen's downfall, there couldn't possibly be any kind of problem for anyone of any sort.

Not so.

For, you see, even with the kind of future that was putting itself together, it was impossible for there not to be any kinds of problems for anyone or about anything altogether, with or without evil now having been destroyed forever thanks to Tai Lung for the ultimate heroic irony and indeed the ultimate ironic heroism.

What made this clear happened a few days after Tai Lung's rejoining, specifically late at night where the only ones who weren't asleep were Tigress and Po…and, while the latter was awake for reasons that one might expect, like having a really big midnight snack and a huge drink to go with it(partly to forget how, earlier in the day, he offered Tai Lung a rematch, with the snow leopard promptly accepting his challenge and this time beating him and getting even, something that Po took with dignity, but was still, unsurprisingly and understandably, less than happy about), it was a much more complicated case with Tigress.

Po would find out that, like him, she was still awake when he said: "All right, that was good, but it's time to get to bed. Can't stay up too late to be almost dead asleep in the morning." and went upstairs to his room, but then heard: "Po? Is that you?" in a voice that clearly belonged to her, even with it being at such a low volume, since everyone else was asleep, Tai Lung in his newly made bedroom or otherwise.

"Tigress? You're awake, too?" Po asked at just as low a volume while knocking gently and lightly on her door. "May I come in, please?"

"Why not?" Tigress sighed quietly. "It's not like I was able to do much of anything other than be lost in thought, and that's not my first choice in terms of passing time when I can't sleep."

So Po entered her room quietly and gently, closing the door quietly and gently, as well, and he went over to Tigress's bed, though almost fell over upon his right leg getting caught on the bed's leg that was nearest to him, but Tigress acted quickly and got a hold of him, then the two both made sure of it that he was gotten out of that position quietly before Po then went over and sat on her bed just as quietly, facing her and vice versa as the feline sat in front of him and they looked at one another eye to eye.

"You know, Po," Tigress said softly, "while you are indeed a very adept and powerful warrior, the fact that Tai Lung got even with you earlier today notwithstanding, it is probably worth pointing out that, even knowing how much it's helped you, being obese is very bad for your health, as evidenced by how even simple, avoidable accidents like what we thankfully just averted can happen. The heart problems alone…"

"I…see what you mean there, Tigress." Po said, nodding as he took a fistful of fat out of his blubber laden belly and then pushed it back down. "And I suppose one could easily say that I am very unhealthy despite my weight ironically giving me a lot of, well, ironic assets. But there's something I've been wondering about you lately."

"What's that?" Tigress asked at the low, barely audible volume that they were speaking to each other in once more.

"Never once in the entire time that I've been with you have I seen you cry, not even when things that many would say could easily elicit tears from almost anyone have happened." Po replied at a volume that continued their quietness. "Even though you've plenty to be sad, unhappy and hurt about, given what's been learned about your life growing up. Why is that, anyway?"

"Really, Po? The reason I've never once cried, no matter what, are not obvious to you?" Tigress asked, opening her eyes widely in utter surprise and indeed in absolute shock, though she kept her voice at just as low a volume as she and Po would during their entire conversation.

She then sighed and went on: "You're the Dragon Warrior, you've known me for so long now and you don't know the fact that, first, I'm a kung fu master and leader of the Furious Five, second, that means that I am absolutely disallowed to cry and third, besides how I can somehow tell that I never even cried when I was an infant, not even when my parents were killed and my being brought to that orphanage was the only option under the circumstances in which it happened following their trying and failing to save me from the assassins who killed them and wanted to get rid of me, as well…"

Po opened his own eyes widely in just as utter surprise and absolute shock, and then Tigress nodded and went on: "Yeah, I know…I don't understand how I can tell, either…I'll honestly never get that, but for some reason, I do, but back on topic…the fact is that, even if I weren't of the kung fu warrior and Furious Five leader status that I am, even if I were not forbidden to cry, I would still do no such thing, anyway. Seriously, nothing can describe how weak and pathetic it is…how much it signifies vulnerability and lack of strength of character…"

"Weak? Pathetic?" Po asked. "Tigress, this is exactly what I'm talking about. My reason for mentioning how you've never cried in your life was because of how unhealthy THAT is. The way that you undoubtedly have had moments where you wanted to and believed you were going to, but absolutely refused and made sure it didn't happen. The fact that there were no doubt times where you had to suppress tears with all your might and barely managed to do so. Things like your believing such unhealthy ideas as the one that crying is weak and that it's unacceptable for one in your position to do. Other things were believed that turned out to be wrong, as well. You, for a time, didn't believe in me and were angry that I was chosen over you after doing things as you had for so long, which led to you being nasty and mean with me a lot, well, for a while, anyway. Yet look how it turned out now. Shifu didn't believe that he was going to cause Tai Lung, who, ironically, is now part of us and has become the ultimate hero in a different way than my becoming the Dragon Warrior has, to turn out so dark and eager and craving of that scroll to the point where things ended up as they did in his first life, though thankfully this second life of his will without question go the other route. Both found out the truth the hard way on all counts. Nor did Shifu believe in me any more than you did, and indeed how things were with you in terms of what I mentioned before were so with him in each and every way. And let's not forget that, before that, he didn't believe that the way that he raised you the opposite of how he raised Tai Lung would have just as bad an effect on you as it did him despite how there were blatant and considerable differences between each one. But it did. Given everything that I've just mentioned, don't you think your believing that crying is weak and pitiful and something that makes you soft and ridiculous might say something?"

"While I can see exactly what you're thinking," Tigress responded, "the problem is that everything has exceptions, and this is no different. You're clearly saying that, while you may be unhealthy physically, my refusal to cry is just as unhealthy in a different way."

"Actually, even more so." Po informed her. "See, you spoke of heart problems concerning my being so corpulent, and the possibility of those coming my way in the future does exist, I'll admit. But suppression of tears…doing everything you can NOT to cry, even when one would label you as having every right to…making clear an outright refusal of the most high impact kind that would, in a different way, but one just as bad, put your heart in danger, as well, part of it being how you think that, besides how kung fu masters DON'T cry and it's never something you'll have permission to do…something that's not okay and against the rules of the fighter status…well, the least unpleasant way to put it is this."

Tigress suddenly felt tears bubbling up in her eyes, though she ignored this and did all she could not to think about it in order to stop them from being shed and, eventually, make it so that the feeling vanished along with them, but she listened to Po nonetheless: "Given our frames, weight differences, the different levels of magnitude we have in terms of craving training workouts, real fights and the like, what have you, one would never guess that you were the least bit unhealthy."

"Of course one wouldn't. That's because I'm not." Tigress said, but Po said: "Ah, but see, that's the thing. The whole heart attack risks from being fat and such? It's no secret that others have thought that of me despite usually not mentioning it vocally, it's true. But let's be honest here…despite how, like I said, one would never guess you were the least bit unhealthy, let alone anywhere near as much as me…allowing pent up sadness and pain to continue existing and, chances are, increase along with the effect they have on you becoming, well, increasingly, worse. Outright refusing to believe that crying is anything other than weakness and something you're forbidden to do and therefore keeping the beginning of even a small amount of it contained, suppressed, whatever word you want to use. The effort that must often take. Ignoring the feeling of tears starting to show themselves as much as you can and just letting the memories of hardship, sadness and the like remain in your mind, keeping what pain they give you bottled up…disregarding how this could hurt you in ways that most don't know exist…Tigress, really. When it gets down to it, when one really looks very far into it…between the two of us…who's more unhealthy?"

Suddenly, everything that had caused Tigress pain, all of that which made her sad, every memory of what time she'd been put through hell, someone and/or something had hurt her, all saddening things she'd ever experienced of one sort or another, everything that would have made her cry were it not for how she never had before and, at times when it seemed like she would, refused to, came barreling back into her mind and Po could see tears that were one thing that would set them off away from coming out of her eyes in those same eyes, and, while he didn't like having to cause that one thing, he knew that he had to.

So Po then said, holding out his arms for her: "Tigress…please. Stop making things worse for yourself. Don't endanger your health any further. Crying is not weak. It's not pathetic. It's a lot healthier than you think, and far healthier than most think, for that matter. Please. Hug me. You can cry. I'll keep you comforted. Why worsen the pain with more refusal struggles? Crying is not forbidden like you and some others have been led to believe it was. I'll hold you close. Cry."

That did it.

Tigress wrapped herself around Po and cried for twenty-five minutes straight, managing to squeeze out: "T…thank…you…" to him in the middle of it.

"Of course." Po said as he held her close to him, and by the time Tigress was no longer crying, every last drop(figuratively and literally)of what was causing her to cry and the crying itself was gone, everything that had been pent up, suppressed, bottled up, contained, ignored, all because she mistakenly believed that crying was never an option, all of what had more than given her cause to be sad and cry and indeed every right to do both of those things was now made up for in terms of how she should have reacted to it the way she did now back then but never did.

This was literally the first time that Tigress had ever cried in her life, and when Po saw that she was now unconscious, he decided to stay with her for the night, and so it was that he got under her covers and continued to hold her close to him while putting his head on the pillows, a second before he heard an odd noise.

Listening more closely, it turned out that Tigress was purring in her sleep, and when he saw and felt that she was clinging to him more closely in a loving way that felt really good, he smiled and knew he had a loving awakened Tigress embrace and purr combination to look forward to the next morning, and between that and how warm it felt in more ways than one, it wasn't long before Po slipped into unconsciousness, as well, and just before he was fully asleep, he was so glad that he was able to solve what was undoubtedly the biggest problem that Tigress had ever had, due in no small part to how it was with her for so long, but now it no longer was.

THE END

So, what did you think?

Ratings and reviews, please.


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